To Catch a Killer
by Galeon Spritzu
Summary: When a murder threatens the well being of everyone, there's only one troll capable of sniffing out the one responsible. The Question is: Can she find the killer in time? Rated T due to Gamzee and Karkat. Rate subject to change. Major Character Deaths.
1. Chapter 1

"_Ma'am, none of us can help you."_

_Sobs could be heard throughout the hall of the police department. "PLEASE!" Yellow tears streamed down her face and off her chin, eyes pleading with the officer before her. "He was my matesprit! I loved him! He… He just… I can't…" The woman broke off into another spell of choked cries as the pool of lemony liquid left water spots on the shirt she wore. A deep blue hue like the ocean a while away from them. A hue like the blood that pooled around the man that lay motionless on the kitchen floor of a hive not too far away, the life swiped from him in the night. The officer took a breath, looking behind him to his partner. The troll gave a nod to him and the he took a card out of his pocket, handing it to the destroyed woman before him._

"…_But she can."_

_The lemon blood took the card carefully between her fingers, fumbling to get ahold of her phone and dial the numbers with those shaky fingers and held the thing to her ear. After what seemed to be an eternity of ringing, a voice answered the phone._

_ "Detective Pyrope speaking."_

* * *

Terezi woke to the same smells as yesterday, and likes the past few mornings she began with a sigh. "Only a dream," she said to herself. If only. Being a detective, gathering the evidence against the troll who pulled the strings, getting his execution and the ability to smell the fear and sheer horror as he is hung for the whole town to see… Hell, just Alternia would be nice. Sadly Cueball had some other plans with everyone, having them stay at his place as guests or something. It's been a few months, but Alternia was certainly something many of the trolls missed. At least the guy had red chalk. All kinds of hell yes. And she could hang out with Dave! Perhaps this place wasn't so bad. The troll girl stood and calmly walked out of her room, breathing through her nose as she went. Per usual, she could "see" swirls of the green that enveloped the manor. Everything from the lights to the tastefully placed décor throughout the home was noted in her unusual vision. To Terezi's dismay she was not allowed to lick any of the furniture however. The one time she tested that against the curtains Mr. Vanilla Milkshake somehow found out. Damn was he good.

Off at what seemed like the end of the hall was the smell of tired eyes and… Oh my god. Cherries. Terezi ran over to Karkat with a grin. "Oh fucking gog don't you dare even THINK of licking me!" This never once stopped Pyrope, who said it would now? She ran her tongue along the unwilling and protesting Karkat, her arms preventing him from simply running off. "Terezi, what the fuck!"

Terezi let out a cackle, grinning to her little Karkat as her tongue moved back into her own mouth. "You're bright red, Karkles!" And indeed he was. The notion of the unwelcome color to his cheeks only provoked more squirming and desire to get out of this embarrassing situation before anyone else figured out what color ran through his veins.

"Terezi let me go already, gog fucking damn it!"

"So delicious~" It was another cackle before she finally let him go. Karkat put a hand up to shield his cheeks from the view of whoever may just happen to walk upon this scene. On his watch, it would be absolutely nobody. Absolutely no soul would see his red tint and live to tell the tale and Karkat would make sure of this. If Terezi weren't blind this wouldn't at all be an issue he'd have to deal with all the freaking time.

Feeling the excessive heat leave his face, Karkat removed his hand from his face. "About time that torture was said and done." Karkat wiped the thin layer of saliva off his cheek, though could've sworn it was still there or something. Felt like it to him. It always did whenever she did that. Gog damn it. But at least it was over. At least it was all over. Everyone was safe: John and his ragtag group of pals, the Alternian Sgrub Beta trolls, and then the four alpha kids. Jane and her friends have only been in Doc's manor for a few weeks though. Karkat began walking down the hall, Terezi following his scent. Speaking of alpha kids, Karkat walked by a room with two of them. No idea what their names were though. One always had some sort of drink in her hand; right now wasn't an exception. The other had another pair of pointy sunglasses. Why were people wearing sunglasses indoors? Karkat had no damn idea and he wasn't about to begin guessing today.

"Oh god, guys! Guys!" John's voice could be heard down the hall. "Oh shit! Guys!" With widened eyes Karkat grabbed Terezi's hand and ran with her down to the source of the yelling. It didn't take long to reach the location of the screams. By now nearly everyone was standing and staring at the sight before them.

"Oh my… He…Oh glub…"

"Fef, it'll be alright I promise."

"ED does this look alright to you? Look at him gog damn it!"

"I understand the circumstances, but could we please remain composed and try to refrain from such lewd vocabulary? We must stay mentally _strong_."

"How the fuck can you say that! He looks like one of Nep's kills or somethin'!"

"Would someone tell me what's going on!?" All eyes locked on Terezi as the room remembered she couldn't see what was in front of them. Karkat looked away from Terezi, not sure how to lightly put this. Hell, there is no light way to put this. The red team's leader took a shaky breath as he looked to the scene before his feet.

"Doc is dead, Terezi."


	2. Chapter 2

Terezi froze, unable to stand the bitter bark of those words. Especially across a tongue as sweet as Karkles's. Such tastes collided and held each other at a grand vendetta. "Dead? What do you mean dead?"

Mr. Vanilla Milkshake just couldn't flat out die, could he? The man was invincible. He saw everything and knew all there was to know. But there he was, lying on the carpet without so much as a single sign of life. There was no rise and fall in his chest, not even the slightest movement from the faceless felt. Just his silence screaming out loud. Screams of agony and pain probably. His silence ached horrendously as the group stared in shock at their host. Err… Ex-Host. "Just… Dead, Terezi. How else can it be said?" Karkat asked, kneeling down by the body. Terezi said nothing, merely taking in mechanical breaths. One after another. Surely this couldn't be happening… They survived all the deaths and drama and now there was this? Surely they beat the game, didn't they? They won.

"Well, I'm gettin' the fuck out of here." Eridan stated, turning on heel and beginning to walk away from the scene. Vriska went marching after him.

"Hold it, fish breath!" Vriska yelled. The prince kept on walking. "How do we know you're not the idiot who did this?" With a cross of her arms she and many others looked over to the sea dweller. Karkat sighed, ignoring them as he looked over Doc. Kanaya followed in suit, ignoring the idiot sea dweller.

Eridan stopped in his tracks, turning to shoot an icy gaze at the middle blood. "Why the hell would I do something like this? Honestly, Vris. That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

"Well you _are_ pretty stupid, ED. " A lisp filled voice spoke out and eyes locked on a pair of red and blue glasses.

Sollux came up from behind Vriska, walking straight up to Eridan. "You would want to leave because you did it! It's not like you're not the Prince of fucking up everything for nothing!" Their relationship ever since getting to Doc's place had only gone further downhill. Often they would bicker until Feferi came around or someone told them to knock it off. Speaking of that sea dweller, she held her head in her hands. The two were just unbearable sometimes.

"I would want to leave because obviously there's somethin' or someone here wantin' to… Oh, I dunno, Cull us all!? Is wantin' to live suddenly a bad thing, Sol?"

Sollux rolled his eyes. "You're such a drama queen." He shoved Eridan's chest, sadly having to look up at the troll. Perhaps if he wasn't so tall he wouldn't look down on everyone all the time.

"At least I'm not some mustard blooded low life." Eridan shoved back without another thought to it. The two growled at each other, eyes narrowed through their glasses and fists clenched at their sides, each waiting for the other to strike. Any excuse to throw a punch in "self-defense" really. Karkat looked over to them with an exasperated sigh.

"Could you two love birds just shut your nutrition chutes for a good 5 minutes?" The two took a step away from one another, their glares however not lightening up in the slightest. "We get it. Eridan's an ass, Sollux is an ass. How about we all be asses together after we deal with more important things. Jegus!" Not bothering to wait for a response, he moved his attention back to Doctor Scratch. The bickering trolls moved back towards the group, each standing on the opposite side of a slightly less than thrilled Feferi.

Kanaya looked at the man closely, kneeling down beside Karkat. "He's bruised. It looks as if he was beaten in the head, see?" She pointed to the faint band of a bruise that was emerging from Doc's head. Her finger trailed along the wound, brushing against something peculiar. "Hm?"

"What is it, Kanaya?" Nepeta looked over to where Kanaya's finger had stopped along Doc's smooth head. Equius made sure his moirail stayed close to him. Was it necessary she be exposed to this? Equius found it best for her right now. Especially if there was something to be wary of in the manor.

"There seems to be something in his head. A small, slim piece of wood." Everyone leaned over to try to get a look at the thing as Kanaya moved her finger from it, pointing it out when asked.

The humans looked amongst themselves. "Looks like a splinter from here." Rose calmly said. The sylph smiled up to her human friend, nodding a thank you to the girl. Rose has gotten them pretty far in general. Her staying calm in the situation was enough to have a calming effect on the rest of the group.

Everyone looked to the piece of wood again, nodding in agreement with the human's conclusion. Dave quietly filled in what was happening to Terezi, explaining everything in as much detail as he could manage. The splinter, the nods and other gestures she may not be able to pick up on as well as the spoken words.

"Doesn't Gamzee have wooden clubs?" Jane asked, looking to the eccentric highblood. The small chatter and inquiries between one another fell silent as eyes locked on young Makara.

Gamzee put his hands up in defense, his eyes filled with both worry and his pie high. "Hey whoa, wicked sis. I'm not the motherfucker who did this shit."

"But didn't you go crazy and kill people before?"

"I haven't done that in forever. Been eating up my special miracles. That shit's the best. Doc was a chill motherfucker. He'd give me my pies and shit."

Eyes went back and forth with the more civil of the arguments today. Terezi looked to the group. "Well we don't know if it was Gamzee. We can't just stand here forever though." The blind girl sighed, thinking over what they could do. "How about… Everyone try to remain calm. I will handle this. Be mindful of what's going on around you and try not to walk alone if you can help it. Just… I'll solve this. The person or persons responsible will not escape justice!"

Gamzee, along with much of the group, were able to smile a bit more with that reassurance. Nepeta included. "Detective Terezi Pyrope is on the case!" she cheered.

Detective Terezi Pyrope. She couldn't help but enjoy the taste of those words. She smelled as people began to walk off in pairs of two or three until the only ones left were her, Karkat, and the body of Doc Scratch. The girl took a shaky breath before feeling Karkat's arms slink around her. Now even the seeker of justice could smile even the smallest bit. All the while, darkness loomed over the area. Karkat and Terezi slowly walked down the hall, sticking close to one another as they did so.

Today the scent of the manor was different. Sure, there was the salty tang of Eridan and Feferi's fish puns, the bitter bite of that stuff Roxy was always drinking, and the sweetness of her ruby blooded companion. That was all there yesterday too. A certain stench lingered in the airs of Doc's home tonight as well. Cringe inducing and cold, it didn't hold anything similar to the things she was used to. It couldn't be described and named with words like sour, spoiled, or sickening. It was an odor entirely different from any of those: True Injustice.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day rolled through in eerie silence and legions of duos walking the halls of the manor together. Just two days ago the mansion was filled with laughs and good times that could cut through the outside halls like butter. The silence seemed to do an even better job of that. It was the weirdest thing to think about for some people. Others, the fact that this indeed was not some bad dream. Following Terezi's words, everyone more or less had someone they'd usually walk with: Terezi with Karkat, Kanaya with Rose, and so on. The only one who didn't was a certain sea prince who simply chose to walk with whatever pair or trio happened to be nearby at the moment. Not like anybody wanted to be directly tied to him anyway.

"Would you both walk a little faster? I mean, there's a freakin' killer in here for cod's sake." Terezi walked behind with a notepad and pencil, rolling the yellow cylinder between her fingers as she did so. Sadly, it was she and Karkat who ended up stuck with Eridan for however long. Unlike the red blood, who was flipping off the back of Eridan's head nearly every time he opened his nutrition chute, Terezi was a bit glad to have Eridan walking in front of them. Everyone here was guilty until proven innocent, but how Eridan tried to leave the scene… Sure he's self-absorbed, but still. It was something to think on. With him here, he couldn't try anything if he was the killer.

But then there was Gamzee. As sweet as the troll was, he has a deadly side to him. Just a bit of time off those pies and a repeat of _that one time_ was pretty realistic again. A scary thought, Gamzee not eating his pies. But why would he stop? Terezi thought to the bruise on Doc, something more prominent today than yesterday. "How many things could also be in that shape..." Karkat understood just what the troll was saying as they trudged through the manor. "The club maybe… Hell, the handle to just about anything." Terezi let out a sigh,

Eridan glanced back for a moment before continuing onward. He too let out a sigh. "You act like we have all day or somethin'. Cod. If I could go somewhere by my damn self I would, ya know."

"Weeeeeeeell, why don't you then?" The trio looked over into the foyer, seeing Vriska. Adjusting her jacket, she pushed herself from the wall she leaned on, nonchalantly strolling over to the trio. John strode up after her, giving a small smile to Karkat. That same smile was quick to fade when he was given the finger by the crabby troll. An eye roll from Vriska and she moved on. "It's not like anybody is stopping you, … John, what was that one thing you said? Those humans with the scarves and stuff?"

John looked over to Vriska now, his head on a slight tilt. "You mean hipsters?"

"YES! Those! You're one of those!"

John snickered a bit, looking over Eridan's attire. He always dressed so funny, didn't he? All the trolls did, but Eridan was truly one of a kind. The striped scarf, the dramatically framed glasses. Everything from his stupid cape right down to the golden rings on his fingers was just odd, even to the Alternians.

The cape wearing troll hipster scoffed, brushing the end of his scarf over his shoulder. "How dare you, you pathetic human. Do you know just what—"

"Yeah, yeah," Vriska interrupted. "Guess how many of us care." As she crossed her arms over her chest, a smirk rose to her face. Nobody said a word. Perfect. "Exactly. Nobody. So just shut up and go back to your fish and stuff. None of us care." Eridan quickly looked behind him, then down the hall. "What?" A perplexed expression came about before he shook his head.

"Nothin', spider-bitch. Just thought I saw… Eh. Never mind. Was nothin'" He shrugged. "But look. You're just jealous 'cause really, nobody likes you. Not like you ever do shit around here or nothin'. You could've died an' it wouldn't have made a fuckin' difference. In fact, we would be better off." Eridan stormed down the hall. Nobody bothered to stop him this time.

Everyone's eyes locked onto Vriska, who seemed completely unphased by all of that. "Whatever, lousy prince of empty quadrants." She rolled her eyes, walking off in the opposite direction. John quickly followed after her.

"You ok, Vriska?"

"I'm fine, John. Just fine."

Their voices faded out as they left, leaving Terezi with Karkat again. She turned to him.

"Uhm… What just happened, Karkles?"

"Eridan was being his general ass self and marched off, Vriska left with the John human."

Terezi sighed. "Thanks…" Eridan has always been sort of… Well, Eridan. But since Doc died, it's been far worse it seemed. She slumped down to the floor, running her fingers along the tile. Smooth, like Doctor Scratch's shiny round head. Cold like it too. As Terezi laid her head on her knee. "Karkat?" She could hear him move to sit beside her. His warmth and cherry scent was something more comforting than the chill of the ground.

"Yeah, Terezi?"

She looked up at him, despite it having no real point. "I can't do this..."

"Sure you can, Tere—"

"No, I can't do it alone." Terezi moved her head off her knee, turning her body to face him. "I… I want you to help me." Karkat fell silent, watching her every move. "I want you to help me find whoever did that to Mr. Vanilla Milkshake."

Karkat nodded, placing one of his hands overtop hers. "Ok. I'll help you."

A small smile finally appeared on Terezi's face. She wrapped Karkat into a hug, one returned by the troll. "Terezi and Karkat are on the case?" She released him so she could look at him. Err… Well, so he could look at her.

"Terezi and Karkat are on the case," he repeated.

Without warning, Terezi licked his cheek, cackling as she pulled them both off of the ground. "Let's get going then! Someone's getting hanged for this and it's not going to be any later than it has to be!" She now grinned, pulling Karkat down the hall by his hand. The generally crabby troll couldn't help a small smile. He looked around the hall in hopes nobody was watching this. A shrug of his shoulders and he walked off with her.

* * *

From behind them a shadow had stood in a doorway. It took one last glance to the newfound duo before returning to the shadows once more.


End file.
